For people in the West, Yoga generally
refers to physical movements and exercises that bring one a greater sense of
physical and vital well-being. Yoga is far beyond that. It is to consciously
develop, evolve, and transform our nature. If the physical movements take us
from say a level 1 to a level 2, then dedicating ourselves to a life of
conscious progress can take us from 1 to a 5, to a 10, or even to 100.

Growth & Development

When a person with substantial skills adds
similar ones, or a prosperous individual becomes more prosperous through the
same methods, then there is growth - i.e. progress that is more of the
same. In this scheme, one rises from a 1 to a 1+ or perhaps a 2. On the other
hand, improving several parts of our being is a more formidable change and
progress that is called development. E.g., a person giving up a
persistent grudge about his difficult station in life, or an individual
overcoming a virulent tendency to dominate and oppress others would qualify as
development. Another example would be a general practitioner becoming an expert
pediatrician, or a lawyer becoming a district attorney or even a judge. In our
scheme, that individual would move from a 1 to as far up as a 5 or 10, depending
on the nature of the change.(Keep in mind that each number upward is not just an
incremental increase, but something akin to an exponential one!)

Evolution

If growth is more of the same (i.e. horizontal
expansion), and development is to make considerable upward progress in one's
character, station in life, etc. (i.e. vertical expansion), then evolution is to
move to a whole new plane of existence. Evolution can occur consciously through
a dedicated commitment to change over the course of one's life -- which is
essentially what Yoga is -- or it can occur less decidedly and consciously as a
result of conditions that arise in one's life. For example, in the film
Educating Rita we see how Rita moves from a rough, street-smart woman to a
semi-educated individual in an extraordinarily short period of time. She has
essentially evolved a good part of her nature to a new plane of existence --
from a vital-focused individual to a more mental-centric one. Likewise, Eliza
Doolittle in Shaw's Pygmalion does the same as she rises from a flower girl who
speaks in vulgar tones to a more polished woman who speaks genteelly and with
dignity. A degree of evolution has surely occurred in both instances. In Rita
and Eliza's case, it occurred semi-consciously, whereas Yoga enables evolution
to occur consciously and continuously throughout one's life. Thus, where
development is a movement from a 1 to a 5 or even a 10, evolution takes one much
further, to perhaps a 20. Conscious or semi-conscious, or even unconsciously
enabled, it is a vast leap, ordinarily reserved for a very few in life.

Having identified these levels of progress, one
wonders what is it that we actually change in our being when we develop or
evolve ourselves. For one, each of us has several major wanting characteristics
in our being. Each of these can be overcome through our willful decisions to
change. E.g., I can change two of the most untoward parts of my character --
such as a propensity to laziness and pig-headedness -- to the point that I
actually become its opposite; in this case, continually hard working and
open-minded. Likewise, a disorganized, weak person could become a fully
organized individual who continually demonstrates psychological strength in his
behavior. In a life of conscious Yoga, one continually attempts to overcome each
of our unique limitations of capacity, skill, knowledge, attitude, opinion,
belief, etc. To the degree we overcome our limitations, determines whether we
are developing or evolving.

Our limitations of character and capacity do not
end there however. For even if we were to overcome all of our own unique
limitations, there are also wanting qualities that are common to all humanity --
such as our tendency towards anger, hate, fear, desire, jealousy, and many
others primal emotions. In addition to these are the limitations of our habitual
nature -- including our tendency to go on repeating our old ways avoiding
change, continually rejecting the new and the unfamiliar, and an attachment to
fixed opinions and beliefs. Overcoming the limitations of our primal and
habitual nature is another goal that can be achieved through a life-long yogic
effort.

Transformation

Beyond development and evolution is the ultimate
form of progress -- transformation. Transformation is the changeover from
a current human functioning to a higher, supra-human functioning. It is usually
enabled by opening to the transformative power of the Spirit. E.g., while a
vital/emotional person becoming a rational mental-oriented individual is
evolution, transformation would bring about a radical change to the mind itself.
Instead of knowing a thing through study, understanding, etc., one could come to
know the truth of any subject through descents of intuitions of knowledge. I.e.,
through a newly formulated spiritualized mind, intuitions of the complete truth
of a thing simply descend and appear in our mind without the hard churning of
thought. Thus, the mind has been transformed from its usual functioning into its
supra-human mental counterpart.

Such radical transformation can take place in the
mind, in the psyche, in the emotional/vital centers, in the heart, even in the
physical body itself. E.g., one of our other universal limitations concerns our
physical body -- including the fact that we experience pain, illness; and that
the body withers, decays, and dies. The transformation of the body would
overcome this -- as we would live in constant health, and could eventually
overcome death itself. That would require the transformation of the physical
organs and systems of the body to a new type of functioning, enabling the
emergence of a new type of human being. In our scheme of things then, such
transformation would be a further exponential change that would take us beyond a
20, up to 100.

At whatever level we make our change --
development, evolution, or transformation -- we can utilize the power of the
Spirit to help us along the way. We can offer up to the Divine any aspect of our
nature that we wish to change, which will attract its infinite power to aid in
the change. From our side we can make every effort to attain the necessary
knowledge to understand this process, and make all necessary psychological and
behavioral change to overcome the offending parts. It is a life-long endeavor,
demanding vigilance, dedication, and sincere effort. It is Yoga in action.

Yogic life culminates when our entire being is
surrendered to the Divine Will, Purpose, and Influence. We become in all aspect
of our lives -- physical, vital, mental, and spiritual -- instruments of the
Higher Functioning. It is the ultimate possibility of human existence, and the
culmination of Yoga in life.